Chapter 2
The Ones Who Didn't Make It
Even though it had been centuries ago by this point, Nina still recalled the horror of time collapsing perfectly as she stood alone on that same hillock. It pained her to think back on it, recalling just how helpless and pathetic she had been.
She’d been a weak, sniveling kit that couldn’t even reclaim a lucky charm from a pair of thieves. It was a miracle that she even still drew breath today. How could someone like that possibly survive in a world descended into chaos?
For the first few years, little had changed about her. She was still a weakling when Makena and Kiripito finally approached her to join the Guild. Though the Chatot had his reservations, they needed all the help they could get to deal with the banditry that had come over the land in the wake of time’s collapse. Smaller offenders were her first jobs, but her inexperience showed, and she often had to be bailed out by others.
The Ninetales visibly winced at her hazy memories from that time. Gods, she’d been so pathetic back then. Her fire hardly burned their opponents that time. Her two teammates had been fairly experienced and did pick up her slack with her then, having cut their teeth with missions even before time’s collapse.
Then one day, while travelling through Mount Bristle, her luck finally ran out when she and her team were caught in an ambush by powerful bandits.
Against the surprise attack, they didn’t stand a chance.
“Hah! That’s what you get for stomping on our ground, runts!”
Vulpix Nina looked on in terror, eyes dilated in horror at the sight before her.
Three bandits, a Weavile, Arbok and a Drapion, far bigger than her, stood behind two explorers, a Growlithe and a Jolteon. Both were laying on their side, bloodied and unresponsive. Nina’s stomach churned, as violent shudders ran down her body and her mind went blank beyond a desperate plea:
“Sam! Raijin! Pl-Please! Get up!”
Wh-Why? Why couldn’t I save them?! I…I knew something like this would happen!
Blood dripped from the Weavile and Drapion’s claws, as they turned their attention to her. She backpedaled as her eyes met theirs and she felt her own run cold after seeing the glee in them.
“Two down.” The Arbok flicked his tongue at her. “Pretty little thing. She’ll make a fine corpse, won’t she, Lady Hecate?”
“Tch, it doesn’t matter when we’re not going to leave a trace of her behind.” Weavile Hecate brandished her claws, a wicked smile crossing her face as she looked at her Vulpix-shaped prey.
“Sorry, darling, but we don’t cut breaks for cuteness anymore. In these times, it’s kill or be killed!”
Nina dove for cover as ice shards flew her way, all the while frantically digging through her bag, desperately fumbling as two seeds and an apple tumbled out.
Come on, come on, I know we had one!
But the hiding place wasn’t fit for purpose, and within seconds, Hecate was onto her again. Nina squealed in fright.
“Say night night, girlie!” Hecate jumped forward, ready to run her through with a claw stab.
Nina’s paws felt something glassy and round. Shutting her eyes, she slammed it to the ground, waiting for the inevitable end.
Except it never came. The Vulpix opened her eyes, and there she was, outside the Dungeon’s entrance with the ever-present black sky.
The escape orb had done its job, and Nina had returned to safety.
But it had also taken her teammates with her. And if she had hoped for a miracle that Sam and Raijin were still living after that brutal assault…
The still, bloody forms of the Growlithe and Jolteon did not give much hope.
Nina’s breath hitched, as tears began to flow from her eyes.
“N-No…Please…!”
She nudged Sam’s side. His body felt cold – unnervingly lifeless.
Raijin was no better, no signs of life from him either. Both their eyes were closed, and she could detect no pulse anywhere.
“P-Please…! Wake up!” Nina began to sob. “I don’t want to be alone again…!”
She’d escaped by the skin of her teeth back then. If her paws had been even a fraction of a second slower, she would have been a goner.
But every time it came back to her, Nina would always remember what else she could’ve done. If only she’d slammed that escape orb down sooner. If only they’d had the strength to counteract that ambush. If only they’d listened to the warnings that Mount Bristle was bandit-ridden and that they just weren’t ready for a Super Rank mission no matter how badly they needed the extra rations.
Sometimes when she looked back on it, she wondered if Sam and Raijin had ultimately been the lucky ones. They’d died with hopes of a future where things would be normal again. They didn’t have to live in this hell of a wasteland like she did.
At times, she found herself wishing she’d been slain back there alongside them.
Perhaps in a sense, a part of her
had been. Whatever embers of innocence she still had were smothered in that cave, and Nina was inconsolable for the next while after as she bawled and wept for her fallen teammates.
She had learned a hard truth that day. In the world’s state of desolate paralysis, she couldn’t always rely on others, otherwise she’d end up dead weight to others, or dead outright to a bandit’s claw. It was as that Weavile had said – it was kill or be killed.
And once she’d swallowed her grief, the Vulpix was determined she wouldn’t meet her end in this world. She wasn’t about to be prey to bandits; no, she would become their worst nightmare instead.
From then on, Nina vowed to be tough. She vowed to be able to fend off any enemy that came her way. So that there would never be a helpless spectator to her own fate again. To be strong enough that she could burn anyone who would dare harm her to ash.
Whether it was for Sam and Raijin, or herself, Nina did not know. But to be strong, she needed
power, and there was one way she could attain it: evolution.
The evolution springs had lost their magic thanks to time’s collapse, but Nina soldiered on with the way left to her of growing stronger: she toughened herself up ripping apart her foes. First ferals in Mystery Dungeons, and as the mores that governed society progressively broke down, then outlaws who grew ever more bloodthirsty. Nina numbed herself to the smell of their blood and the sounds of their screams, until eventually she was rewarded by a sudden spurt in growth, a more fervent fire within her, golden fur, and nine beautiful flowing tails.
The moment she evolved into a Ninetales and finally had strength at her side, one want filled her mind:
Revenge.
For Sam.
For Raijin.
For herself.
Nina hid behind a large rock, at the peak of a rocky canyon near Mount Bristle as she waited for her quarry to come through. It was nearly a year after her teammates’ fall, she presumed, though she wasn’t sure exactly
how long it was since. Without time’s course as a guide, exact gauges of time had become harder to track.
Eventually they came; three distinct figures of an Arbok, Weavile and a Drapion making their way through the pass without a care in the world.
Had those three truly been an exploration team, once? It was beyond foolish to be so cavalier with such a steep drop nearby. They were along a thin ridge, and if one slipped off the mountainside, a long fall awaited.
Even so, despite gaining more confidence in her strength since evolving, Nina wasn’t fully sure if she could overpower three of them at once. Those three had made quick work of her team, and they were even on numbers then.
But then, it wasn’t as if she needed her full power here.
Tossing them over that cliff shouldn’t be too hard. Besides…a long fall is the least they deserve after what they did to my friends.
Nina’s blood boiled as the three explorers-turned-bandits made their way past her. She took care not to let her fire breath lash, given the blast seed in her mouth right then. It wouldn’t do for her to be blown up too if a latent ember set it off. Also next to her was an orb, which Nina kept still with her paw so it wouldn’t roll out into the open.
She needed the right opportunity, and stood still as a statue as she listened in on their chatter.
“Man,” the Arbok huffed, his tongue flicking. “Pickings have gotten light lately. Feels like ages since we had a good fight.”
“You’re telling me,” the Drapion grumbled, claws clicking as he crawled along. “It just ain’t the same cleaving ferals to pieces. At least a civil ‘mon’s fun to watch as the life drains from their eyes.”
It took every ounce of will for Nina not to hurl the blast seed there and then. Her fire within was raging, and her teeth clenched to keep her rage under wraps.
Come on…Just a little closer.
She eyed the thinnest part of the ridge, where the team was approaching.
“Shut up, you two,” Hecate said. “It’s not as if it makes a difference. Whether it’s some fool from Treasure Town or some crazed feral, it’s all the same. All in the name of maintaining our dominance here.”
Dominance?
Nina’s ears pricked, as she stifled a growl. Well, enjoy it while it lasts…
The three had reached the thinnest part of the ridge.
…Because I’m ending your reign here and now!
Nina then sprung
out of her hiding place, and threw the blast seed.
KABOOOM!
The blast seed landed square between the three of them and caught them all off guard.
“What the hell?!” the Arbok cried out.
“Who threw that?!” Hecate asked, before the smoke drew them into a coughing fit.
“Ahhh! I’m slipping!” Drapion cried out, as they reached out with their claws to grip the rock. They managed to clutch it, but just barely.
“Serket!” Hecate cried, reaching for her partner and beginning to hoist him up. “I’ve got you! You’re safe n-”
I don’t think so!
Nina snarled as she breathed in and spat up flames at Hecate, engulfing her before she could finish her sentence. The Weavile yelled in pain, and the shock of the pain made her lose her grip. With nothing to hold onto, Drapion fell into the ravine below.
“Serket!” Hecate cried, before turning back towards where Nina stood, ready to pounce again.
“Serket!
” Arbok cried out. “NO!”
“Why cry? Go and join
him!” Nina hissed.
The Weavile and Arbok looked her way, but before they could react, the Ninetales threw a Petrify Orb at them and froze them where they stood. Snarling at the sight, Nina primed her tails as an iron sheen coated them, before leaping forward and slamming
them into Arbok. The Arbok similarly yelled in fright as he began slipping off the ledge. He tried to coil around an outcropping, trying to hold on, but he couldn’t get a secure hold and fell off the ridge like his partner did.
Nina had also sideswiped Hecate with her Iron Tail, snapping the Weavile out of her trance in time to see her partner fall off the ridge.
“Nidhog!”
Hecate’s face contorted to an angry snarl as she turned back to Nina. Her teeth were bared, but it looked like she was blinking back moisture in her eyes.
“You bitch!”
she yelled. “You’ll pay for this!”
Her claws grew coated in ice as she threw forth icy shards at her opponent. Nina spat up a column of fire to catch them, leaving them to hit the ground as inert spurts of water.
“Hmph. That makes us even now. Two of your partners are dead, just like how you killed two of mine,” Nina spat. Her tails fanned behind her and she raised her snout to look down at the Weavile in disgust.
“Wh-What?” Hecate froze at that. “You…Where have I seen you before?”
“But I didn’t come here to get even, Weavile. I came to get revenge!
” the Ninetales growled. “Now earn your just deserts!”
She leapt back to where the ridge was safer, not missing a beat, preparing her Iron Tails again. Hecate was swift and railed her claws against the fox, cleaving golden fur from her. Nina hissed, but with a slam of her tails, she knocked Hecate back near the edge, and leapt forward to tackle the Weavile back to where the cliff face lay. Nina pinned her down as hard as she could.
“Get…off me!”
Hecate’s struggles became frantic, clawing at the Ninetales above her. But Nina resisted in slight of the pain from latent cuts, pushing Hecate towards the ledge. All the while, the Weavile thrashed harder, no doubt realising the precarious situation she was in.
“Who are you?!” Hecate growled. “What do you want with me?!”
“‘In this world, it’s kill or be killed.’ You told me that the last time we met,” Nina said in a cold, emotionless tone. “Right after you killed my partners in cold blood.”
It was like those words suddenly clicked, and then for Hecate it all fell into place.
“You! I know you! You’re that Vulpix from before!”
“I am. And you know what?” Nina’s muzzle twisted to a menacing snarl. “You were right back then, and I’ve been dying
to see how you’ll feel once your wisdom’s been turned on its head!”
One push was all it took to have the Weavile near the edge. She cried out grappling at the ledge and managing to hold on. Nina breathed in, her fire burning intensely inside her at this killer
who’d robbed her of her partners.
She blasted a column of fire at Hecate. The Weavile couldn’t hold on against the flames’ force. Her claws slipped, and she fell from the ledge.
“Damn youuuuuuuu!”
The Weavile plunged into the valley below. Far enough that Nina couldn’t hear the thud as Hecate joined her comrades in a grisly fall and subsequent death.
Nina brushed herself down after the fight. She’d sustained a number of cuts and flecks of blood stained her golden fur. But nothing that couldn’t be healed.
The same couldn’t be said for her adversaries. Turning her head to look over the edge of the path, she saw the faint specks of the three lying in the valley below.
Younger her would’ve been horrified that she’d carried out such a sin.
But that Nina was gone. Weaklings like her had no place here and now.
The Nina that remained didn’t feel a thing about what she’d just done.
That Nina was now fully at one with this world where only the strong survived.
That trio was one group in a long list. From then on, Ninetales Nina stood for no nonsense as she massacred bandits on her travels, wandering the land and living off what remained just like many others. She’d abandoned Wigglytuff’s Guild, now a shell of its former self against the surge in banditry, and thrown her badge away. Now that she’d become much stronger, she had no need of moralising tripe and nonsense like, “Smiles go for miles!” anchoring her down in a world they didn’t belong in anymore. And she decided that if they dared to try and stop her, she’d burn them to ash too.
Again, something young her would be aghast at. Nina knew the Guild would never approve of brazen murder like she’d done. But what choice was there? Mercy? The Ninetales always scoffed at the suggestion. She’d heard it said once that being kind to the cruel, a ‘mon would be cruel to the kind, and that was
before everything had turned into a ‘mon-eat-’mon world like this one.
In retrospect, she was surprised a part of her had been worried after settling accounts with Hecate. It wasn’t as if they mattered in the end. She heard less and less news of the Guild for the next few years after that, until one day she’d heard in passing that the Guild had outright disbanded with its headquarters abandoned. A defunct organisation was of no concern to her anymore.
It didn’t take long for her to develop a legend in her own right: of a Ninetales roaming the dark wastes that delivered fiery, bloody justice upon its various parasites. After some years and a few accumulated scars, mere sightings of her presence became a source of fear for bandits throughout the continent. Some foolishly tried to kill the legend, but she became wise to their tricks and ways and grew to outsmart them at every turn. It didn’t matter whether they ran in fright or charged at her head-on: they all met the same fate, burned to ash or ripped apart.
Except, her newfound strength after evolution had come with a curse. A curse most Ninetales were familiar with.
Their longevity.
Nina had walked this gods-forsaken earth for some three hundred years by her estimate. When she was young, even one hundred years seemed like an impossibly long time for a ‘mon to live. She decided a while ago that she’d have rather lived for just that long.
Perhaps she’d have been happier if she’d lived for shorter still. Wandering darkness took its toll on her as the decades and centuries passed. Even after evolving, she’d been young and callow enough for a time to still seek out a way to reverse the malaise that had corrupted the world. But as no clear answer became evident, she’d grown more and more despondent, falling into the same mire of pessimism the rest of the world had.
All that her remaining flickers of youthful optimism had earned her were fallen friends, crushed dreams, and a set of enemies worse than any bandits which she’d been on the run from. And now she had
them plaguing her at every turn, leaving her no choice but to go on the run just to constantly stay a step ahead of them.
That was her current reality today. Nina had been running for a good bit through the darkened landscape. She hadn’t the faintest idea where she was; directions didn’t matter, only distance from
them and endlessly buying time to scrounge for food and searching for places to hide.
She continued along her current path, along the end of a valley to where a tall hill to her right loomed, and ahead of her, the first glimpse of the sea, blacker than oil.
An instinct nagged at her. A familiar feeling. This was somewhere she’d been before. Somewhere she’d known well in the past.
Then she came to a set of crossroads. A crossroads with a crater located in the middle of it, rocks having been thrown upwards by that earthquake all those years ago. To the right, there was a path to a set of steps leading to the top of an outlook. To the left, a destroyed path that once winded its way down to a black sand beach.
Nina bit her lip, as it dawned on her where this was.
She knew this place all too well.
“…Treasure Town.” She breathed a mournful sigh. “Back here again…”
Back to where it all ended. Back to where my dreams were crushed in an instant.
A nostalgic feeling weighed heavy upon her, and she found herself cresting the hill to her right. Some of the steps had crumbled over time, but these were still very much the same steps her past self had climbed up all those years ago.
She reached the top, where she looked upon the ruins of what was once Wigglytuff’s Guild. There wasn’t much of it left on the surface, the Wigglytuff façade having long since faded away with barely a hint it was once in the shape of one. The grate’s wood had also gotten brittle with the planet’s paralysis and had collapsed, with the shaft below filled in. Now it seemed to function more as a firepit, with remnants of burnt ash and firewood in there instead.
But its current shape didn’t make Nina forget what it once was. Staring at where the grate had once been, an old memory returned to her.
“…No.” Nina stood in front of the Guild, her legs shaking. “I refuse to be paralysed by this any longer! I have to steel my courage today!”
Nina frowned and shook her head. She’d told herself that more times than she could remember, and. yet the result was always the same:
She stepped onto the grate, only to recoil when voices echoed from within.
“Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!”
“Whose footprint? Whose footprint?”
“The footprint is Vulpix’s! The footprint is Vulpix’s!”
“Wah!” Nina jumped backwards. Any bravado she had fell apart in an instant. “…I guess I can’t work up the courage after all…”
Nina sighed, thinking back on it all as she pawed the edge of the firepit.
I can’t believe how pathetic I used to be. Scared of a grate
, of all things.
It still felt strange for Nina to be walking around this place so openly. All that time ago, she’d spent much of her waning days as a Vulpix just struggling to walk up to it. Then, not long after her exile from the Guild, bandits took over Treasure Town after the Guild eventually fell, and converted the former building and the warrens beneath into a hideout against invaders.
She supposed it was just sentiment affecting her again, since that had all been a long time ago. Like most havens built in this day and age, however, the guild-turned-den-of-thieves didn’t last. The powers-that-be that had taken over these dark wastes normally saw large gatherings of Pokémon as seeds of potential rebellions. And a certain
someone and his henchmon didn’t tend to take that lightly.
Clearly, nobody had bothered to try their luck again in some time. Since as she looked around, not a soul seemed to be about.
I wonder if they
might’ve had anything to do with that…
Nina turned away from the Guild to look around her. It was quite the outlook from up here, even if the sights to see for miles around were far from pleasant. The circular rocky outcroppings throughout the land still stood as they did in the old days, although a number had crumbled to nothing. Beyond that, all she could see were ruined wastelands, some more floating rocks, and an inky black sea that stretched out for miles to the west.
In the olden days, there were connections to lands beyond the sea, but those had been severed with time’s collapse. It had been decades since Nina had heard anything, and back then, those other lands were suffering the same as they were.
There was no reason to believe matters had changed in that time. Nothing ever did in this day and age.
Nina climbed down the steps once again and headed west, towards the town itself. Here, there were yet more buildings that had fallen to ruin. Some dated back to before time’s collapse; others were newer constructions akin to shanties attempting to make a haven out of Treasure Town’s ruins. But judging by their dilapidated state, their venture had not been successful, probably taken over by bandits just like the rest.
Or at least it probably had at
some point. Right then, the entire town was as quiet as the grave, as it often was in most of the darkened continent. Even without figures like
them waiting to snuff them out, desolate land didn’t tend to be fertile grounds for a society to sprout.
Perhaps the
literal graves nearby also had something to do with it, too. Nina turned her head to see quite a number of them planted on a patch to her right, just in front of the main square and behind where Hadad’s stand used to be. She had made them on a previous visit, some decades ago when there’d been no bandit occupation.
The Ninetales half-expected it to have been pillaged and uprooted, and she blinked in surprise, to still see it standing there.
Maybe that was something to be grateful for.
Not like there’s many things to be grateful for in this life now.
The Ninetales wandered over to the graves and looked them over. The writing on them was still intact and didn’t look faded in the least – a product of the world’s state of paralysis where wear and tear came upon things much more slowly than before. However, there appeared to be signs the ground here had been disturbed recently, and Nina spotted claw marks by some of the gravesides, along with what looked to be hastily reburied earth.
Grave robbers. She bristled.
Disgusting.
In some ways, she couldn’t fault them, given the ‘mon-eat-’mon world they were in with little room for morality. But even so, to see this happen to the graves of the townsfolk she knew from long ago and to see her friends’ rest disturbed like this…it made her sick.
Her gaze then fell on one of the graves.
HERE LIES
XATU YOGEN
OWNER OF XATU APPRAISAL
Nina looked at the epitaph, frowning at her own description. Something about it had never seemed right to her. Even as a Vulpix, she’d gotten this feeling there was more to Yogen than met the eye, as though there was much more he knew that he never let on about. He was a newcomer to town, supposedly from the Air Continent, but he never elaborated much beyond that. A secretive ‘mon who kept to himself, and whose secrets had long since followed him to the grave.
Looking over to where his Xatu-shaped hut had once stood, now picked apart for firewood, Nina recalled his divination given to her long ago.
“Shun the phantom and protect the archer at all costs.”
In the last while, one half of that statement had guided her in knowing who her allies were.
He certainly wasn’t anyone worth allying with.
But in all her time, she’d never found an archer. A Decidueye, perhaps? But in all her wanderings, she’d never found one. And even if she did, what then?
Protecting someone else…Stupid. What use was Yogen’s prophecy when he couldn’t even foresee what would happen to me? Why would I protect someone when I have my paws full protecting myself?
Nina shook her head. Maybe the answer would come to her one day, if it ever came at all.
She moved on. There was always one grave in particular that she made a point of coming to whenever she was here. The Ninetales scoured the headstones for the name she was looking for, when a few graves over, she finally found it.
HERE LIES
KANGASKHAN MATRONA
OWNER OF KANGASKHAN STORAGE
Of all the graves, it was that one that held the most sentimentality for the Ninetales, and she sat herself down in front of it. The Kangaskhan had always been dear to her, and consoled her in her darkest days after she’d lost Sam and Raijin. When she had been beside herself with tears or unable to rouse herself from bed in the days afterwards, it had been Matrona who had been there to try and put her back on her feet. Perhaps it was thanks to the Kangaskhan’s warmth and encouraging words that Nina was still alive today, long after Matrona had passed on.
Yet that had felt like a lifetime ago. And staring at the epitaph, one dark thought struck her.
What would Matrona think of me now?
A chill crept down Nina’s spine. She had a good feeling as to what the answer likely would’ve been. It was part of the reason why she hadn’t gone back to the Wigglytuff Guild after she cut down Hecate and her Team. Matrona had always treated her with such kindness and always hoped her future would be bright… and in the end, she used that kindness only to spurn it herself.
She’d had untold killings of bandits and rivers of blood to her name that she’d long grown numb to, along with a lust for strength to be able to take down anyone who dared to bar her path that had led her to that. Would Matrona really still love a ‘mon that was a living legend for how
many Pokémon she’d killed?
Anyone who knew her from her Vulpix days would be horrified at who she’d become. But her guardian?
It felt like small pinpricks were stabbing Nina’s heart, and she looked away from Matrona’s grave.
“…I did what I had to do in our new world,” she said, shutting her eyes. “I’m not going back to my old self. She’s too weak. Too
pathetic. I know you loved me, Matrona…but I can’t turn back time. Not when it won’t flow anymore.”
Nina grit her teeth, blinking once. Twice. And again and again as she felt beads of moisture starting to creep into the corners of her eyes. She stamped her paw down to try and dispel those unwanted feelings. Tears were a sign of weakness, and weakness had no place in these times.
She took that as her cue to leave, turning her back on Matrona’s grave and retracing her steps out of the graveyard. The graves looked to be in order for the most part, and there wasn’t much she could do about the ones that had been disturbed.
Nina trotted away and headed west. The bridge that once crossed the town’s stream had broken during time’s collapse long ago, and now the river had to be forded. But it was hardly a wide stream, and with a simple run-up and a mighty
jump, Nina soared through the air and landed on the other side without difficulty.
She passed by the rest of the ruins, what were once Matrona’s, Yogen’s and the Kecleon Brothers’ shops but now lay dormant and a shell of what they once were without their owners at the storefronts. Even now, Nina could still picture the warm, motherly smile of Matrona as she took an item the once-Vulpix had found into storage, or comforted her after she failed to join the Guild again.
Such a kind soul…that was now lost to time.
Nina grit her teeth, averting her eyes from the stall.
Why can’t I just forget about this place? We can’t turn back to the past, the present is bleak, and there is no glimmer of hope in the future. We’re stuck in this state of lost time that’d take a damned divine miracle to undo, and every god who could grant it has just forsaken this world…
She shook her head. She’d had those thoughts many times before, and now wasn’t the time to wallow, not when she wasn’t finished here yet.
And so she walked forwards, towards the place where she'd watched it all end.
The Ninetales reached the bluff before long - or what had once been Sharpedo Bluff. What had been a formation like a Sharpedo had collapsed into floating rock and remained suspended in mid-air, just as many other rock formations had done after time’s collapse.
Nina’s heart twinged as she looked at the scene before her. That had been her home, below her paws. That hideaway had become a place she’d grown fond of, and she’d fashioned it into something more homely with what little pocket money she had. It was an old leftover that no one had lived in any more, and the only ones that had tended to use it before her were travellers with no place to stay. So there was no harm in Nina using it; better than sponging off Matrona all the time, she had thought.
It had once been a place that protected her from sun, rain and snow. Her little refuge to hide away from the world, to wallow in her miseries without anyone to see her. Like she’d done with those constant stillborn flights of courage every time she tried to join the Guild.
Those faltering efforts had started to grow hazy in her memories. Even if she’d wished that she’d kept
those memories, instead of the other, bitter ones that had remained clear in her mind.
Around a week after she’d arrived in Treasure Town, Nina had suddenly been called from helping out Matrona with her stall to see some guild representatives.
A trio of explorers awaited her at Sharpedo Bluff – a Lopunny, Medicham and Gardevoir. Nina had heard of them – a Master-rank exploration team called Team Charm, composed of Lopunny Freya, Medicham Radha, and Gardevoir Astarte. With that level of authority, the Vulpix almost feared she was in trouble, but no, they assured her, she wasn’t, and they were nice and kind, particularly the Lopunny. Introductions were made, and once small talk had ended, the Lopunny got into the heart of the matter.
“Were your parents…both Ninetales?” Freya asked her.
“Y-Yes…” Nina bit her lip. “Yes, they were.”
The harrowing events of the past few days had not escaped her, and she’d hoped that whole time that her parents would stroll into town with that rockfall behind them. Nina had informed the Guild and they assured her they would look for her parents.
“Did you…come from the mountains to the south?” Astarte asked.
“Y-Yes, I did,” came the reply.
Nina then realised: this was the first time the Guild had come to her, instead of her asking if there was any news on her parents’ whereabouts. But something about that gentle tone Team Charm were addressing her with…went at odds with the joyful scene she would’ve expected had they found them.
The pause proved unnerving. Nina looked up at the three ladies, as they looked between each other. Already the Vulpix knew what that meant: bad news. And if it was related to her parents…
No.
A deep pit formed in her stomach. Please, don’t tell me what I think it is. Please, anything but that!
The uneasy look Radha traded Astarte helped her nerves none. And then came Freya’s next two words.
“…I’m sorry.”
The dagger twisted with those words.
“S-Sorry?” Nina stammered. “For what? You…You don’t mean–!”
“…If only we had good news.” Freya’s hand went to her heart. “We’re so sorry, Nina, but…”
The knife twisted again. Nina almost knew what was to come, with her breath hitching in panic.
“…This morning, on the road south towards Mount Horn, we found the bodies of two Ninetales, buried under a rockfall,” Radha said.
“One male, one female,” Astarte continued. “They looked like they had been there for a few days. I’m afraid…they were gone. We couldn’t save them.”
“N-No…!”
The tears came quick and fast, as Nina let out a howl of anguish.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
That had been a day to forget, once she’d received that terrible news. In that hideaway under Sharpedo Bluff she had dove, where she had cried herself to sleep. It contained memories fond and foul, but it had always been her home.
And now it was gone forever. Between the realisation of this and seeing the shell Treasure Town now was, Nina felt her breathing quicken rapidly, gritting her teeth and shutting her eyes to stop the flow of haunting memories coming back to her.
Why did I even come here? she hissed.
There’s nothing left; only old wounds to be reopened. I don’t need this place anymore! Let it rot for all I care!
A snapping growl escaped her throat, as Nina opened her eyes again. But as she did, her gaze met one more place that had once been very dear to her: the beach below.
Nina let out a long sigh.
…One more place. Then I’ll leave.
It was a bit of a walk to reach the beach at the foot of Treasure Town, but Nina had no issue making it there. The steps at the cratered crossroads had collapsed altogether, and some of the trees along the path had fallen and blocked the way, but it wasn’t anything she hadn’t jumped over or skirted around before.
Before long, she made it onto the sand. Back when time still flowed, it was golden like her fur had once been, but their grains were now dyed a dark black, almost like the sands at the base of Giant Volcano. The sea before her was also black as night, and lay dull and stagnant—the planet’s paralysis meant bodies of water in general stood still akin to a marsh, the sea included. In some ways, it was an advantage—there used to be a rip current at the far end of the beach which led out to Sharpedo Bluff that Pokémon would carelessly swam into—but it did mean that ships and carrier ‘mons never sailed anymore. There was no wind for boats’ sails to catch, and the seas these days tended to teem with feral Sharpedo and Jellicent that would be the end of any vessel that dared sail through their domains.
Nina looked off into the distance as memories of the sea in better times came to mind. She remembered the Lapras Liners that sailed around the world, connecting the world’s continents by sea. One such Lapras often set sail from Capim Town to the northeast, and she’d catch sight of them sailing past when the weather was fair. But that was no more, and Nina felt a twinge of regret as she watched the empty black sea before her, unable to travel beyond the Grass Continent’s shores.
We really are on our own here, she thought to herself.
And there’s no one from the lands beyond to help us.
Something about this beach stuck in her mind as a key location – but it had been so long that she had trouble recalling why that was.
Then she looked to the end of the beach, and flinched.
Suddenly it dawned on her just
why she felt that way.
The evening sun shone, and the Krabby blew their bubbles as they did most evenings when the weather was fair. The sea breeze tickled Nina’s nostrils and blew across her fur as she treaded on the golden sands of the beach.
“Oh wow!” the Vulpix remarked. “What a pretty sight!”
She looked out at the sea, mesmerised by the beauty of the burnt orange sky, the lavender clouds, and the setting sun before her. It was always where she came when she felt sorry for herself, and the Vulpix always felt better for it. No matter how bad she felt coming here, she never left the shore berating herself for her failures. It would always lift her spirits and leave her feeling cheered up when she would head back to her hideaway for the night.
And just as it always did, the guilty feeling of once again failing to join the Guild began to melt away. Nina smiled as she closed her eyes, taking in that breeze and feasting on the tranquility of the moment…
Until something rammed into her side, rudely interrupting her peace.
“Agh!” Nina was knocked onto her side, completely taken aback, and struggled to find her senses for a moment. When she got to her feet again, she saw two figures flying and floating in front of her: a Koffing and a Zubat, both cackling at their prank.
“Oh, I do beg your pardon!” The Koffing laughed, clearly not sorry at all. Nina tensed; they didn’t look friendly, and there was no one else on the beach to help her out.
“Wh-What do you want with me?” The Vulpix quivered, trying but failing to hide her growing fear. “Wh-What was that for?!”
“We wanted to mess with you!” cackled the Zubat. “After all, you got somethin’ interesting on you, and we’ll be taking it for ourselves!”
Then he swooped down to collect something that had fallen onto the sands – and Nina’s heart nearly stopped when she saw what he’d grabbed.
Her Relic Fragment.
No! That’s all I have to remember my parents by! If I lose that, then…!
“Th-That’s mine!” she cried, scrambling to her feet. “Give it back!”
“Heh-heh-heh! Sorry, kiddo, but it’s ours now!” the Zubat taunted. “See ya, sucker!” Before Nina had time to react, he quickly flew away, blowing a taunting raspberry as he went.
“Whoa-ho-ho! Nice one, Pipis!” the Koffing cheered, floating after him.
“Thief! Thief
!” Nina cried, giving chase after them. “Give back my Relic Fragment!”
The Koffing turned back to face her, a sneer on his face.
“Oh, I don’t think so, girlie!”
He floated right in front of her, before expelling foul green gas from the holes on his body. Nina got a face full of it and came to a screeching halt, blinded and coughing at the odorous fumes that the Poison-type had blown in her face.
“Enjoy the Poison Gas! My little treat!” he cackled.
Nina fought her way through the gas, resisting the urge to retch, and once she was out of it, she breathed in fresh air and opened her eyes again.
But the Koffing was gone, as was the Zubat.
Gone…along with her Relic Fragment.
I can’t lose it!
Nina was in full panic mode. Not when my parents gave it to me! Not when I haven’t figured out its mystery!
Sick and weakening fast from the Poison Gas, the Vulpix slumped to her belly, legs wobbly and her teary vision fading.
“N-No…Please don’t take it…”
Her words slurred and trailed off in her mouth before she fell forward and the world went black.
Nina’s teeth clenched upon remembering the whole episode.
The Relic Fragment. That rock that past her had quite a fondness for, and one her parents had called an heirloom. By that alone, it had to be something valuable, and they clearly wanted her to have it. And with them gone, it was the only memento she had left of her parents.
But it had been lost that day. Another vestige of comfort stripped from her just before the times when she needed it most, and the avenue to figure out its mystery lost.
Instinctively she touched her chest where she had previously carried it.
It wasn’t there.
One more piece of herself, lost to the ravages of time. Panic spiked within her briefly, and she grit her teeth.
Stop it, she berated.
Let it go and move on. It was just a stupid rock, anyway. Another weakness, clinging to something so useless.
Well, no. Not useless. That unusual pattern on it was so intricate that it couldn’t be nothing. She couldn’t remember exactly what it looked like, but back then she felt it had to mean
something, and so she had resolved to find out its secret.
But then everything happened and I never got a chance to search deeper. Yet another goal from my younger days that went unfulfilled…
Nina shook her head and fluffed out her fur. Once again, old wounds from the past were being ripped open through these memories.
Why am I even letting this bother me? I have far greater things to worry about than looking for a rock’s little secret.
Clearly that was an indicator that she’d spent enough time here. She already had enough in her paws just trying to stay ahead of her pursuers, and her memories haunting her weren’t helping.
Nina let out an annoyed growl, her fur standing on end.
“This was a mistake!” she growled to herself, stamping her paw angrily in the sand. “I should never have come back here!”
She turned around, ready to leave Treasure Town behind forever…
Except when she turned, she found six pairs of ruby eyes staring into her soul. Each belonged to a sextet of bipedal indigo gremlins with claws made to slash and teeth that had been seemingly purpose-made to rend flesh and bone.
She’d been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed their arrival. Immediately, the Ninetales shifted into a battle stance, her inner fire beginning to burn.
“Sableye!” Nina growled. “If you’re here, then that means…!”
“It means exactly what you think, Ashen Fox.”
That voice. Nina’s skin crawled and her fur stood on end at the sound of that chilling, haughty sneer.
Looks like he caught up with me.
The Sableye parted, and in the gap they created, a Dusknoir suddenly appeared. His lone red eye looked down on Nina with a bored, contemptuous gaze. His hands moved around in place, as the Ninetales found it hard to guess if he was charging a Shadow Ball or not.
Her muzzle twisted to a snarl, the very sight of the Dusknoir sickening her to her stomach.
“You…” She bared her fangs. “Dusknoir Shuranabi. Do I need to guess why you’re here?”
